diff --git a/backend/config/db.php b/backend/config/db.php
index d4e6383..13b5c14 100644
--- a/backend/config/db.php
+++ b/backend/config/db.php
@@ -15,15 +15,33 @@ $searchPaths = [
     __DIR__ . '/../../../..',                     // htdocs/
     __DIR__ . '/../../../../..',                  // home directory
     posix_getpwuid(posix_getuid())['dir'] ?? '',  // PHP-detected home dir
+    $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] ?? ''
 ];
 
+$envData = [];
+
 foreach ($searchPaths as $path) {
     if (!empty($path) && file_exists($path . '/.env')) {
         try {
-            $dotenv = Dotenv::createImmutable($path);
-            $dotenv->load();
-            $envLoaded = true;
-            break;
+            // First try native parsing (bulletproof)
+            $parsed = parse_ini_file($path . '/.env', false, INI_SCANNER_RAW);
+            if ($parsed !== false) {
+                foreach ($parsed as $key => $value) {
+                    $_ENV[$key] = trim($value);
+                    $_SERVER[$key] = trim($value);
+                    putenv("$key=" . trim($value));
+                }
+                $envLoaded = true;
+                break;
+            }
+            
+            // Fallback to Dotenv library
+            if (class_exists('Dotenv\Dotenv')) {
+                $dotenv = Dotenv\Dotenv::createImmutable($path);
+                $dotenv->load();
+                $envLoaded = true;
+                break;
+            }
         } catch (Exception $e) {
             // Try next path
         }
@@ -34,7 +52,7 @@ if (!$envLoaded) {
     http_response_code(500);
     echo json_encode([
         'success' => false,
-        'message' => '.env file not found. Searched paths: ' . implode(', ', array_filter($searchPaths))
+        'message' => '.env file not found or could not be parsed. Searched paths: ' . implode(', ', array_filter($searchPaths))
     ]);
     exit;
 }